Going Home
by KukikoHana
Summary: Keith has returned from the Blade of Marmora to once again join Team Voltron. In his absence, more than one of the team members are haunted by negative emotions. But will Keith's return be enough to allow the paladins to work past their problems and bond once again? Takes place after Season 6. Klance
1. Chapter 1- Distractions

**Hello! Ever since I watched Season 6 of Voltron I thought that it had so much potential to work with. But after watching Season 7 I found that the potential I had originally seen had been squashed. So this story is how I hoped Season 7 had gone. I hope my story is something you guys can find enjoyable ( ^ ~ ^ )**

Lance's POV

I watched as Keith slid his arm under Shiro's back and began to lift him off the ground. Without a thought, my body moved to help him and lifted the other side of Shiro's back. Together we supported Shiro's unconscious body and dragged it over to the black lion. Tears were still slipping down my face as we walked but it didn't really bother me that everyone else could see. Sure I've always tried to keep everything together but this time I'll let myself show a bit of sadness. The rest of the team watched us in utter silence. Not that I could blame them. After all what had just occurred seemed impossible. Shiro's consciousness transferred out of the black lion into his cloned body? It's like something out of a fairy tale has just happened right in front of our eyes.

Keith and I entered the black lion and the rest of the group quickly followed behind us after quickly regaining some composure. We set Shiro onto a table in the lion's cockpit and everyone's worried eyes all settled on one person. Allura. She looked equally as worried but I could tell once she realized everyone was counting on her to explain Shiro's condition, she became more confident as if to fill the role she had been given.

She stood a bit taller as she spoke, "Shiro will be fine as long as the body doesn't reject his consciousness. Right now Shiro and the clone's memories are fusing together. That puts a strain on his body so right now what he needs is proper rest." I found myself nodding as she spoke, but that didn't remove the guilt or pain that still resided in my chest.

"We should take turns with who stays with him", Hunk says, looking at Keith out of the corner of his eye.

"I'll take first shift then", Keith immediately replies. His hand still remained on the table Shiro resided on and something told me he'd remain there for a long time.

"No surprise there", Hunk mutters under his breath which causes Pidge to crack a grin. I'm surprised she could manage a smile in this situation but Pidge had always been strong with her emotions. She understood that sometimes there was simply nothing you could do but get over it. In my heart I knew that too, but this situation was different. It was something I could've prevented. Something I had the power to stop but yet I didn't. I was too slow to catch on to what Shiro was trying to tell me back in the astral plane. Pain spread across my chest again and my mind quickly tried to find something else to focus on. Allura popped into my head but that whole situation was just as painful.

"Then we'll leave you to it", Allura told Keith. I glanced over at Keith. Every fiber of his being screamed of not being okay. His position was slouched over, his face looked paler than usual and the circles under his eyes were dark. He was probably exhausted from having to pilot the Altean ship here and then immediately jump into battle. To make matters worse, he'll now have to take first shift of watching Shiro and that will only lead to him worrying and dragging his emotional state down further than it already was.

I walked over to him which made him stand up straighter and his eyes met mine. I reached my hand up and placed it on his shoulder. His eyes lacked the usual spark they usually had but not that I could blame them. Keith had been through hell and back.

"Just make sure you don't wear yourself out", my voice said softly, "We'll all need you in tip-top shape when Shiro wakes up." I pat his shoulder twice and walked past him, only removing my hand after I passed him. Once reaching the door, I turned my head and cocked it in the direction of the door, signaling for the rest of the group to follow. Everyone exited the room, leaving Keith, Krolia and Kosmo to remain by the brother Keith cared for so much's side.

We all exited the black lion, the nerves still remaining even though I'd left the room. I found myself pacing back in forth, lost in thought. I tried to think of anything that would distract me. But everything that my mind drifted off to, only lead to more pain. Allura didn't understand the extent of my feelings towards her and anytime I try to express myself, Hunk and Pidge take it as some sort of a joke. Hunk was the best friend I'd ever had but lately we haven't even talked much. He's found a kindred soul in Pidge and I don't blame him for spending time with her. I just wish we could hang out more. Man war time is hard. Maybe once we're done with this war and go back to Earth we can connect again. But I guess that's only if we get to go back to Earth. Man I missed Veronica and Luis and Marco. I'd already missed a year of being in their life. I don't want to miss any more.

"Lance could you stop pacing?", Hunk asked sounding a bit stressed, "You're making me more nervous and you know how I get when I'm nervous. And I was already nervous to begin with." I stopped pacing and nodded at him. Romelle also was glaring at me. It seemed she was on the same page as Hunk. I didn't want to make anyone else's experience worse than it already was. Both of their faces softened when I stopped pacing.

Cutting through the tense air like a blade, Allura spoke, "So when can we begin our voyage to Earth?"

"Once we're sure Shiro's condition is stable enough", Coran answered, "That'll probably take no longer than a day or two." A sigh escaped Allura's mouth and she sat on the ground next to Romelle. I could tell she wanted to do something other than sit around. Allura is the type to take everything on by herself and I could tell she felt responsible for Shiro's condition since she was the one who transferred his consciousness into the clone but she wasn't the one to feel responsible. I was.

"For the love of….", Romelle huffed, "Lance quite that horrible tapping!" I snapped out of thought and frowned even further. I didn't even realize I had been tapping my foot the whole time. No wonder they were getting irritated.

"Sorry", I admit, "I just don't know how to handle this." Everyone's faces softened at the words that just seemed to slip out of my mouth.

"Well I'm going to go do a maintenance check of all the lions", Pidge announced, "Better to keep our minds and hands busy than sit here and ponder." She began to walk off towards the green lion and Hunk followed shortly behind her. Anything that needed fixing, the two of them now did together. It was something they were both passionate with and to them it was also something they could bond over.

"The crystal we received from the Castle of Lions could be of some use", Coran spoke, "I'd like to test its qualities and see if it will still be able to being a source of power." I watched as he walked off in the direction of the red and blue lions, pulling the crystal out of his pocket. Then my head swung over to face Allura and Romelle who were in turn, looking at me.

"So what are you guys going to do?" Allura asked. Romelle stood up and brushed off her pants with her hands.

"Since I haven't been off the Altean colony my whole life, I figure it'd be nice to explore a bit", Romelle answered, her eyes twinkling as she spoke. Allura's lips curved upwards into a smile.

"I guess I'll join you then", Allura said, then turning to Lance, "Are you coming with us or do you have something else to do?" I smiled but shook my head, "Nah I've got some things to do here. You two have your Altean girl time." I appreciated that Allura was trying to include me in their little adventure but honestly I really think the two of them needed some time to themselves. They were both Altean but both lived in dramatically different times. The two of them walked off in the complete opposite direction than the lions.

"Just don't get lost!", standing up as I shouted to them. They both swung their heads back at me and stuck out their tongues in response. I smiled as they walked off, already looking deep in conversation.

"Only one man left", I muttered under my breath. I stood there alone, trying to think of something I could do to help. Eventually I came to the conclusion that there was nothing for me to do except wait. So I climbed back into the black lion and remained in the main area outside the cockpit. Kosmo seemed to hear me come in from the cockpit because he immediately teleported in front of me as soon as I sat down.

"Hey there buddy", I said softly. He nuzzled my hand with his head and I reached with both of my hands up to scratch his ears. Kosmo closed his eyes and leaned into my left hand, seeming to like that side more than the other. I continued to pet him as I waited and Kosmo didn't seem to mind keeping me company. It was a good way to keep my mind off of my problems and soon I found words escape my mouth I never thought I'd articulate out loud.

Keith's POV

I pulled up a chair next to Shiro's bedside and wrapped my hand around his. It was incredibly cold, which only made me worry more. I looked up at my mother to find her gaze was already on me.

"You know you need rest too", she spoke, "That kid before was right, you need to take it easy." I looked away from her.

"I'm fine. All that matters right now is Shiro." The truth is that if my nerves weren't so bad my body would've already crashed at this point. I was beyond exhausted.

"So you're not going to listen to him?", Krolia continues, "He looked pretty worried about you." An odd feeling panged my chest as she spoke. Kosmo nuzzled his head against my arm, letting it rest on top of his head. I scratched the top of his head in response.

"Look Lance wouldn't worry about me and even if he did there's no need for him to feel that way."

"Even after all this time, you still feel like he doesn't care about you?"

"Why would he? We're not even friends", the words seemed to slip out of my mouth and every single one left me feeling worse and worse. Deep down I meant none of it. In fact I thought we had grown a lot closer and I'd even consider us good friends. But that doesn't mean he feels the same way.

"I think if he heard you say that about him, he'd be pretty hurt", Krolia says, "I thought you'd begun to get the idea in your head that you mean more to others than you think."

"I have!", I throw my gaze back at her, "Just not with…"

"Lance?", She finishes for me. I nod.

"For some reason just the thought that he might hate me terrifies me." She smiles softly at me, walking towards me. She places a hand on top of my head and shakes her head.

"You'll probably understand your feelings pretty soon", she mutters, barely audible. I stare at her in confusion, when Kosmo suddenly transports away. I get up and look out the window of the door leading out to the main room of the lion. Lance is sitting on a bench and Kosmo is sitting my his side. I see Lance pet Kosmo and Kosmo seems to be enjoying himself. A smile creeps up on my face and soon enough I find myself watching the two of them interact. My hands find the door handle and I slowly open the door. But it was barely open a sliver when I heard him speak. Immediately, I take my hands away from the door. I peek through the window again and see that he hasn't noticed.

"I know this is kinda weird since you can't talk back but I guess that's a good thing. I can express myself and you can't tell anyone about it", Lance spoke. I hesitate. Is this something I should be hearing? Lance rarely speaks about his emotional state and the only time he did was when he admitted to feeling like he should be left out of Voltron. Krolia appears at my side and gives me a questioning look. I place one finger over my lips, signaling for her to be quiet. I didn't want to eavesdrop but I was too worried to just leave him.

"You don't know this but I really care about Allura." A pang shoots through my chest that nearly takes all the wind out of me. "She's so brave, compassionate, caring and can take care of herself. Allura has had my heart ever since I met her and those feelings only have gotten stronger." Everything that spilled out of Lance's mouth I had already known but I didn't realize how much he truly cared for her. I could tell just by looking at his face.

"But the thing is she doesn't know. I've tried telling her but she always writes it off as a joke and just another pick-up line. I can tell she doesn't care for me the same way. It's pretty obvious by the looks she gives me. They're filled with pity and sadness. I just can't stand it anymore. I know she had a terrible experience with Lotor and him being a psycho killer and all but I can't help but hope she comes to like me back. So what do you think? Is it time to give up on her?" Lance pats Kosmo on the head again and the dog whines in return. _Give up._ That thought crept its way into my mind. _Give up._ I wanted Lance to give up on Allura. My hand pushed on my forehead as I began to develop a headache. I quietly shut the door and walked over to Shiro's bedside. My head was pounding with every breath I took.

"Hey are you alright?" Krolia asks.

"Yeah just a bit of a headache."

"That's not what I meant. Are you alright emotionally?" I take a deep breath and think.

"Actually I'm not alright."

"You must care for Lance a lot."

"I care for paladin a lot. They're all important people to me."

"But Lance is different to you", she pushed, "Right?" I look at her, I could feel my temper rising. Everything was getting jumbled in my head. I get up from the chair once again and open the door leading into the main room.

"I need some time to think and gather my thoughts", I turn my head to speak to her. She nods, "I'll stay with Shiro. Go on." In the moment I had nearly forgotten about Shiro. How could I forget about Shiro. I turned, confused whether I should leave his side, when Krolia motions for me to go. I take that as my decision and turn to go.

"And get some rest while you're at it."

 **Thank you guys for reading! If you guys want me to re-do certain episodes (like the Family Feud episode for instance) or take certain scenes and 'fix' them in my story then I'll certainly work them into the plot. The next chapter will be posted probably tomorrow so look forward to it!**


	2. Chapter 2- A Feeling of Guilt

**Thank you all for the follows and favorites. I didn't expect to receive any so far so I'm extremely glad some of you are enjoying the story so far. I hope you all continue to enjoy the future chapters. Thanks for the support!**

Allura's POV

"This planet is enormous!", Romelle exclaims. She twirls around looking at the open area surrounding them. I can't imagine the colony she used to live on, but to believe that a small planet like this enormous then it must be tiny. I wish I could have shown her Altea. A sigh released from my mouth, but Romelle seemed to taken in by her surroundings to notice. Suddenly Romelle stopped walking and turned to me. I stopped walking as well and met her gaze.

"Something wrong?" I ask her.

"I can't put my finger on it. Something just feels off about you", she responds, placing her hand on her chin. I tilt my head, confused at her sudden comment. Besides Shiro, nothing really seemed wrong in my life. Well there was sort of a problem that needed to be addressed but I wasn't really up for talking about it.

"The way you interact with Lance is a lot different than how to handle anyone else", Romelle went on, "Is there a reason for that? Or am I just imagining it?" She gave me an all knowing look that internally made me freak out a little. It was like she could read right through me and my actions. I'm not sure anyone else in the group had noticed that I treated Lance differently. Well except maybe Lance himself. Romelle seemed to be able to read people's emotions and expressions very well and that sort of scared me. I never liked to reveal my emotions to others. It gave of the impression that I was unable to control my emotions and made me seem weak. That sort of image is the last thing I want my fellow teammates to think of me. But maybe Romelle was different. Maybe she was someone who'd I'd be able to open up to. Maybe it was worth giving it a try.

"I'm surprised you noticed", I responded, "You haven't even been on the team for very long, yet you read me like a book."

"It's not difficult to figure out. But the only thing I can't figure out is why you do it. You treat him like he's a wounded puppy left in a cardboard box on the side of the road."

"I do not!"

"Oh yes you do. Anytime you interact with him, you always give him this look of pity and sorrow."

"I just….", I trail off and look at Romelle. She's still holding my gaze, egging for me to continue.

"Lance has always been a flirt", I begin, "He would throw a pick-up line to just about any girl who interacted with him. Lance would constantly flirt with me but I would write him off. After all it's not like he really cared about me like that. Or at least that's what I believed until the mice told me Lance had a very big crush on me."

"So ever since you've been tiptoeing around him?"

"I guess you could call it that."

"So you don't have any feelings for Lance?"

"I don't know what I'm feeling right now", I reveal, feeling a little nervous to reveal the rest. I take a deep breath and explain, "Me and Lotor….. Well I won't lie to you. We had a bit of a thing going on while he was pretending to team up with us. He was another connection to Altea that I thought I'd never be able to have and I think he thought the same of me. Soon enough I developed feelings for him and he as well. That was a mistake of course as he ended up betraying us. Betraying me. I used to feel absolute trust and respect for him but now all I feel is resentment and sorrow. His motives were in the right place but the path he took to achieve his goals were unforgivable."

"I agree. For awhile I absolutely despised Lotor for the actions he accomplished at the Altean colony. But now I understand that there's more to him than I had originally thought. However that doesn't make what happened okay or something that can be forgiven. But what I want to know is what Lotor has to do with Lance and why you're treating him differently?", Romelle questioned. My chest panged as she asked the question. She was right of course. I was simply using my pain for Lotor as an excuse.

"You just don't have any feelings for him. Do you?"

My voice quietly responded, "No." I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands. Emotions threatened to come spilling out in the form of tears but I quickly stomped them down. However this lead to my throat beginning to feel closed up and strained.

"No I don't have any feelings for him", I elaborated, "Even after realizing that he truly cared about me. Even after he sacrificed so many things for me. Even after the sacrificed his own life for mine, I don't have any feelings for him other than friendship. I feel so guilty Romelle and I can't tell him or our friendship could be affected. Our bond as Voltron pilots could even be affected. I can't do anything to jeopardize that." Romelle placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at her.

"Allura you mustn't keep your feelings to yourself. Not telling Lance how you feel is doing an even greater disservice than you know. Lance won't know what to do with his feelings if you don't give them a place to go and the only one that can lead them is you", Romelle's eyes light up as she speaks. Once again the passion in her remains strong and I could tell she truly believes in her words. But if what she says is true then I have a lot more to feel guilty about.

"I need to think about this."

Lance's POV

Not long after I finished pouring my heart out to a space wolf, Keith comes storming out of the lion's cockpit. He made me jump and panic began to set in. What if he had heard me? That would be so embarrassing! Keith's my number one rival the man I want to prove myself to. How could I let him see such a weak side of myself? I had already shown him weakness in the past and that only ended with him leaving the team.

"Keith is everything alright?", I asked him, concern leaking through my voice. He didn't stop walking and headed straight out of the lion. Krolia appeared in the doorway leading to the cockpit with a look of concern on her face.

"He's okay Lance", she answered instead of Keith, "He just needs a little time." This only lead to me being more confused. What does he need time with? Did something happen to Shiro?

"Is Shiro okay?" I splutter, standing up. Krolia holds up her hands as if motioning for me to calm down.

"Yes he's fine, his condition is improving little by little."

"Thank god." Relief filled every fiber of my being and I felt my shoulders relax.

"Since Keith has left, would you like to take his position as Shiro-watcher?", Krolia asked me, lifting her eyebrows as she spoke. Shiro-watcher? A smile immediately appears on my face and a laugh escapes my lips.

"What kind of job title is that?" I respond, "It's as if I'm some sort of stalker." Seeing my smile in turn caused Krolia to smile as well.

"Just get in here you little twerp", she told me, turning and returning to the cockpit. I didn't expect Krolia to stay with me while I watched over Shiro. I'd always seen her by Keith's side and hadn't ever seen her without him. I followed her into the cockpit and sat in the chair Keith had once resided in.

"So you said he was getting better?"

"Yes. His vitals are improving dramatically. I think he'll wake up even sooner than we thought. Maybe less than an hour or so. The only reason someone needs to stay with him now is so that he has someone with him when he wakes up."

"Well what face better than mine to wake up to?" Krolia laughed at my comment which surprised me once again.

"What?", she asked, once seeing my facial expression.

"I just didn't expect you to laugh at my joke. You don't seem like the type to appreciate my humor. Don't take that the wrong way though, not many people appreciate my humor." Krolia gives me a soft smile.

"People appreciate you more than you think", she responds, taking me aback once again. I must have gotten the complete wrong impression of her. At first I thought she was the type of person who is quite cold and expressionless. But the vibe she's giving me now is completely different. In fact it reminds me the vibe Mom gives off back at home.

"Well I'd hope so, I'd say I'm a pretty fantastic guy", I say half-heartedly. To be honest I didn't know how to respond. She was giving me solid tender and caring comments. Something I hadn't really been given in a long time. Krolia was really starting to grow on me.

"Well fantastic guy, why don't you watch over Shiro for a bit while I find something to eat around here. I'm starving." she tells me.

"Of course, go grab a bite to eat", I respond, motioning for her to go. She gives me one last smile before she exits the room.

After she's gone, my gaze then rests upon Shiro. His hair had turned completely white after becoming the clone. His face was so calm, like he hadn't just been through hell and back. Literally. I had to admit it. Shiro has earned my everlasting respect. Even back at the Galaxy Garrison I had looked up to him. He held countless records yet still maintained a good relationship to the people around him. His actions seemed flawless and effortless, as if he didn't even have to think about what he was doing. I knew in actuality the pressure applied to him by others was immense. He was under a ton of stress and probably struggled a ton to accomplish his goals but he kept on fighting and never gave up. Something I want to say I too did, when my life comes to a close. If I can say I did everything I could, then I'd say I lived a good life. I wonder if all across the board people believed that as well. But before I could contemplate any further the door swung open causing adrenaline to shoot through my veins. I nearly jumped out of the chair and my head swung to see who had scared me half to death.

 **I hope you enjoyed! ( ^ ~ ^) ~Hana**


	3. Chapter 3- Words Taken To Heart

**Thank you all for the support! I know you guys probably hear that a lot but seeing new followers and favorites on this story keeps up my motivation. I hope you all will enjoy my story as that's the only way I can repay you all. Thank you all.**

Lance's POV

I swung my head around and saw a familiar head of black hair enter the room. My heart had nearly stopped after the door had swung open. It was so sudden and had torn me out of my thought, that it scared me way more than it should.

"Ever heard of a knock or opening a door a bit slower?" I commented. My tone was a bit nastier than I had meant for it to be. Maybe I needed some rest as well.

"I wasn't expecting anyone to be in here", he explained.

"Well I wasn't just going to leave Shiro by himself", I told him, "Well I guess he wasn't alone since you're mom was here for a bit until she left to grab something to eat."

"How's Shiro doing?"

"Great", I answer, "His heartbeat is regular and all of his vitals are normal. He should be waking up anytime pretty much anytime now." Keith's face relaxes and he pulls up a chair next to mine, sitting in it.

"I also wanted to ask you how the teams been doing since I've been gone." Keith turns and looks at me while he talks.

"They've been doing pretty well. Coran still makes his lame jokes, Allura has learned more Altean secrets, and Hunk and Pidge are bonding pretty well of mechanics."

"That's good", Keith responds but he doesn't look any more relieved, "But how have you been doing?" I avert my eyes and look down towards the floor.

"I'm doing fine", I force out.

Keith's tone drops drastically, "I don't want you to lie to me. We're still a team and I don't want you to hide things from me. Since I've been back you smile and laugh way less than you used to. And honestly most of the smiles you've given seemed to be forced." I jerk my head up in surprise, my eyes once again meeting his. They were steady and have a hard look.

"You noticed all of that?" The words seemed to slip out of my mouth without my permission.

"Of course. If my right hand man is no longer making horrible jokes and terrible pick-up lines, I'm bound to notice." His eyes seemed to soften as he said right hand man and that left my chest feeling all fuzzy. The corners of my mouth curled up into a smile and in return Keith gave me a warm smile. We sat there for a few moments, in silence. He was waiting for me to explain why I've been so out of it lately. He was being unusually patient with me and I truly appreciated it. Keith had really grown in the time he'd been away from us and it kind of made me jealous. I hadn't grown at all. A frown worked its way back into my face and I once again looked down towards the ground. I swung my legs a little as I tried to explain myself.

"I guess I just haven't been the happiest since you'd left the team", I said, refusing to look at him, "Not that it's your fault. It's just a coincidence your disappearance happened to coincide with my growing sadness." I could tell I was totally screwing up this conversation already but the words seemed to keep slipping out of my mouth.

"I guess… I guess I just haven't been feeling the most welcome on Team Voltron. I feel like I'm not of any use to the team and that I'm just getting in the way. But don't tell me I shouldn't feel that way because I can tell the others are feeling that way too. The way I'm left out of Hunk and Pidge's mechanical discussions, Allura and Lotor didn't need my help creating the cyclone ships, and clone Shiro would constantly comment that my thoughts weren't needed. I know when I told you these feelings before you left, you just told me to not worry about it but I can't help it anymore. There's no way I can avoid these feelings anymore." I finally turn to look at his face but what I find is unexpected. Anger filled his face and his fists closed tightly. I winced at his reaction. What was going through his head?

Keith's POV

I just couldn't believe it. I never thought that me leaving would leave Lance in this position. I thought at least Hunk would support him but I guess I was wrong. No one could see how much pain Lance truly was. Or maybe they just didn't know how to handle it. I was filled with regret. Lance was the one person who deserved to be treated as an equal, to be treated like he belonged. He had sacrificed so many things so this team would stay together. Constantly joking to make light of dark situations and always being there for every person on the team. I'm sure the others weren't doing it on purpose, well maybe clone Shiro was but that doesn't mean Lance wasn't hurt by their actions.

"Lance", a broken up voice softly speaks. My neck turns to where the voice came from. We had failed to notice that the man we were supposed to be watching over had woken up. I immediately stood up and Lance did as well. We both rushed over to the man I have looked up to ever since I met him. The brother I chose to have.

"Shiro are you-", I begin but quickly get cut off.

"I'm fine but this needs to be said", Shiro says, still looking at Lance, "Whatever my clone may have said to you is absolutely false and invalid. But don't you dare think I'm just saying that because I now have all of that thing's memories." I turn towards Lance and see that his eyes are practically glued to the floor. I could tell he wasn't prepared to have this conversation with Shiro.

"Lance listen to my words because no one can tell you what I really think of you except for me", Shiro continues, "You are one of the most important members of Voltron. Maybe even the most important. You are the most loyal, brave and selfless person I've ever met and Team Voltron would have already perished if you hadn't been here. Everyone else on the team may not show it all the time, but they believe that too." I glance over at Lance again and saw something I didn't expect. Small tears were slipping down his face. His lip was quivering and his eyes were beginning to become red and swollen. His hand went up to cover his mouth and his head jerked forward a bit, choking down a sob.

"Keith… Do you mind taking care of Shiro?" he doesn't even wait for my response, just turns and practically runs out the door.

"Lance wait", Shiro calls after him. He sits up in bed and tries to stand up. I push his shoulders back down.

"Woah there", I tell him, "What do you think you're doing? Lance needs some time alone right now and you need to rest." His shoulders tense up as he sits back, "Do you think he'll be okay?"

I take a breath before I answer, "I think this is the first time in awhile that he's okay. He may act all tough and confident all the time but the truth is he's just like everyone else. Not sure where his place is in the world. Not sure what he truly means to other people. But you just told him the words he's needed to hear for a long time." I give him a full-hearted smile and he in return smiles. I can tell that, that calmed him down and made him understand that what he just told Lance really meant a lot to him.

"You understand him pretty well huh?" Shiro asks, "Better than any of us here." I cross my arms and turn my head away from him.

"You two are a lot similar than we all thought", Shiro then pauses in thought, "But I think that Lance is still stuck in that mindset." Panic rushes through me. What does he mean?

"Then maybe you can talk to him again?" He shakes his head at my question.

"I'm not the right person for the job. That job can only be taken by you."

 **The next chapter will either be up tomorrow or the day after. Thank you once again.**


	4. Chapter 4- Sacrifices

**This is a long one, the next one will be as well so please enjoy!**

Romelle's POV

Things had become quite awkward after my chat with Allura. The two of us had continued to walk together but Allura hadn't said a thing. I figure she's simply collecting her thoughts but that didn't mean I didn't want to spend some quality time with her. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. But then again nothing would've happened between the two of them otherwise and something needed to change. Their dynamic was going to affect the rest of the team and that was the last thing any of us needed. But the most important thing is that they were destroying themselves over the whole thing, when in fact it was rather easy. Just state your feelings and deal with it. Maybe that's a bit unsympathetic but at the end of the day that's just what everyone does.

"Hey Romelle?", Allura quietly says, "Thank you." A small smile appeared on her face and she turned to face me. I couldn't help but smile back at her. She looked genuinely happy and that's when it became apparent that she had made her decision. But then she suddenly had fear in her eyes and her small smile turned into one hell of a frown. She wasn't looking at me though, she was looking behind me. I turned quickly and one of my worst fears was within sight. The Galra.

Pidge's POV

"Do you think Shiros going to be alright?" Hunk's quivering voice sounded through the green lion's cockpit.

"Of course he's going to be fine Hunk. Now quite worrying and help me with this." His face still showed signs of worry and sadness but that would only be temporary. After all Shiro would wake up soon. Wouldn't he?

Suddenly the ground beneath us shook, causing everything in the room to rattle. Hunk looked at me with wide eyes. I immediately stood up and activated the green lion. I looked outside to see what possibly could have caused such a large tremor. But I didn't have to look far. About 5 large Galra warships were within the atmosphere and but one of them seemed to have crashed into the surface. Maybe the ship couldn't handle entering the atmosphere. There must've been some mechanical failure.

"Hunk quickly go grab your lion, I'll call the others", I spoke, my voice surprisingly calm, "The Galra are here and something tells me they aren't friendly." Hunk speedily stood up and ran out the door. I sat down in the pilot's chair and opened up a voice call to all of the other paladins. Allura was the first one to answer and Keith answered almost immediately after her.

"Get your lions battle ready the Galra are here", I say.

"So I noticed", Allura says sarcastically. Man she's been hanging out with us Earthlings for too long. She's learning our terrible speech habits. I could see Romelle and Coran in the back of her video feed and relief shot through me.

"Where's everyone else?", I ask, "Wasn't Krolia with you Keith? And how's Shiro doing?" Hunk's video feed then appears on the screen. In the background is Krolia and Kosmo. An odd combination. But an even bigger surprise appeared where Keith's screen was. Shiro was standing behind Keith, seeming completely fine. Well maybe not completely, he was white as a sheet.

"Shiro you're okay!", Hunk's voice rang with cheer. Shiro smiled in response.

"I'm sorry to worry you all", he answered.

"Shiro I'm glad you're alright but we've got bigger things to worry about", Allura's voice sounded with urgency, "And where's Lance?" Alarm was all over Keith's face.

"I'll call him again", I respond. I call him again but he doesn't answer. Keith looks grimmer and grimmer every time it rings. I look around the surrounding area of my lion but don't see him. I click to call him once more and on the third ring he finally answers. His background shows that he isn't in his lion yet.

"Lance what are you doing? Get in your lion! The Galra are here!", Hunk yells.

"Sorry I was….", Lance's voice trails off. Taking a second look at him, I could see that his face was blotchy and his eyes were puffy. He must've just been crying. Probably didn't want us all to see him like this and not that I could blame him. I wouldn't want everyone else to see me crying either.

"It doesn't matter what you were doing. Just come join us in Red, okay?", Keith's voice was softer than I'd ever heard it. Everyone else seemed to notice as well because surprised faces were taking over my monitor.

"Guys hate to be the teller of bad news but we've got Galra warships headed right for us!", I speak. My fellow paladin's faces grew more serious and I placed my hands on the controls, leading my lion into the air. Allura and Hunk followed close behind me. The black lion stayed put for a bit longer but eventually took off into the air. The five Galra ships were closing in rather quickly. The two ships on the end were beginning to spread farther out to the side and I could tell immediately they meant to trap us in the middle.

"Keith they're trying to get us in the middle of all their ships", Allura announced. It seems she agreed.

"Not a problem we've handled this many warships before", Hunk says confident. I smile and relax a little, knowing that Hunks right. Well at least he was until a huge cruiser appeared directly above us. The ship was bigger than anything I had seen before. I couldn't imagine how many fleets or what kind of weapons were on that ship. This suddenly got very difficult and dangerous.

"Wow way to open your big mouth Hunk", Lance said, "You just had to brag how easy this would be didn't you." Hunk laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Lance are you in Red yet?", Keith asked, "We need to form Voltron as soon as we can."

Lance's POV

"Just sat down", I respond, "I'll be right up there with you guys in no time." I looked up from the lion and saw the others begin to battle the incoming fleets that flew out of the huge cruiser that seemingly appeared from nowhere. Ever since Zarkon had been defeated, the Galra have had a hard time gathering in big groups like this. They were all fighting for power and I had expected it to be even worse since Lotor disappeared. But it looks like someone finally took the reins of the empire. Now wasn't the time to contemplate it though. I place my hands on the controls and take off into the sky. It didn't take me long to catch up with everyone and I quickly began firing at the incoming Galra ships.

"I'm here now", I tell them, "We can form Voltron."

"Good because we're going to need it. That big ship could mean a lot of trouble", Pidge answers.

"Then let's get it before it gets us", Keith says, "Everyone get in formation." We all follow his orders and get into formation. Soon enough our lions drift towards each other in the familiar form we had done so many times before. Whenever we formed Voltron I could feel each and everyone of our bonds becoming closer, little by little. It was a fantastic feeling and the rush of battle heightened that feeling. I'm sure everyone else felt the same.

"We haven't seen this many Galra together since Zarkon's reign", Allura comments, "You don't think Lotors back right?" A pang appeared in my chest at her question. Even now she's still thinking about Lotor. Even after he betrayed her.

"I think this might be Sendak's Fire of Purification", I reply, "He's the only other leader the Galra have now and there's no way Lotor could've survived our battle." Allura looks down, deep in thought but then nods.

"We can talk about this later", Coran says, "Right now let's kick some Galra butt."

Keith's voice rings loud and clear, "Lance use your bayard and take out all of the fleets." I look into the monitor and see that he's looking back at me. He has a small smirk on his face as if egging me to go prove that I could do it. I smirk back and take out my bayard, inserting it into the lion. At first I assumed it would be the Altean broadsword that I had been able to conjure up before but it was only the sword that I'd been using since the beginning. But that doesn't mean that I didn't have what it'd take to destroy the fleets. We all worked together as one and speedily destroyed all of the fleets attacking us. As if we all could read each other's minds, we moved on to one of the Galra warships. Destroying that took a bit more work, but in the end was no problem for us. But just as things were looking up for us, things went drastically wrong. We had underestimated what the Galra had in store for us. The main ship flew farther down towards us, nearly on top of us. But that itself wasn't the problem. A particle barrier was surrounding the ship and it rammed right into us, tearing all five of the lions away from each other.

"What just happened", Romelle's voice sounded through the radio with an immense amount of static. I looked at the screen and the video feed was no longer working. In face nothing in the lion was working. The controls weren't responding and frankly the lion was just offline.

"That barrier must have some sort of mechanism that tears the bonds that make up Voltron apart", Pidge explains, "Is anyone's lion still working? Try to connect to your lion, that might just wake them up." I close my eyes and try to connect with Red. She was always hard to communicate with but right now we were in a dire situation and usually those were the situations she would help out with. It didn't take me very long to find and connect with Red. I opened my eyes to see all of my controls up and running again.

"I did it", I say, excitement creeping into my voice, "Red is back online."

"That's great but some of us are trying to concentrate here", Keith said. I frowned at his response. Would he always see me as a nuisance? My chest was beginning to feel heavier and heavier. Why did it bother me so much? Was I that desperate for Keith's approval?

Something dragged me away from my thoughts. A large white light was growing brighter with every second I looked at it and it didn't take me long to realize what it was or where it was headed. I looked in front of me and saw the blue and black lion still non-functioning. My brain didn't even process what I was doing. It just knew I had to protect those right in front of me. I thrust Red into the side of Keith's lion and sent him flying into the blue lion. The particle beam rained down from the Galra ship and hit me directly. Right where the occupants of the black and blue lions were just seconds before. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was the sound of Keith and Allura calling my name.

Keith's POV

I had just gotten the black lion up and running when something slammed into the side of me. I immediately hit another object to the other side of me and before I could even process what had happened, I saw the red lion hit with an immense ray of light.

"Lance!", Allura and my voice rang in unison, however Allura continued to speak, "How many times are you going to sacrifice yourself for me?" Her voice was shaky, as if she was on the verge of tears. My heart stopped.

"And what do you mean by that?" my voice replies, anger taking control of my tone, "He's done this before?" I glare at her through the screen. It seemed everyone's lions were back online. Everyone's except for Lance's.

"Keith what should we do?" Hunk asked, "Give us something to do. Should we run or continue to fight?" I take a deep breath and close my eyes to think. I needed to calm down. Getting emotional here wouldn't help Lance.

"We need to fall back. As long as they have those weapons they can render the lions useless in seconds", I reply.

"I agree but we can't just leave Lance", Allura's voice still rang with emotion. I glare at her once again.

"I wouldn't even think of it", I say, looking directly into her eyes, "I have a plan but it's risky and might not work. Are you all still going to trust me?" I look into the monitors to see everyone's reactions. I see three pairs of unwavering eyes stare back at me. Each one of them nod. I sigh with relief and turn to Shiro behind me. This plan was either going to go fantastically or it would end with us all perishing. Hopefully I was making the right decision.

"Are you ready to do this?", I ask him. He tilts his head to the side for a moment, trying to think of what I could mean. And then the lightbulb going off.

"You can't be serious", he begins, "My bond with the black lion is practically gone. Even if I could connect with it again, it would only be for a short amount of time."

"Enough time for us to get to a neighboring planet and away from the Galra?" I respond, my voice unwavering. He placed his hand on his chin.

"Maybe."

"Good enough for me. Please try to do this Shiro. We're all depending on you." I step up and out of the chair, making my way over to the door leading out of the cockpit. I place my helmet on and step out into the main room. I made my way over to the exit and stepped out into the emptiness of space. It didn't take me long to fly over to the red lion and this is where things get hard. I close my eyes and try to connect with Red. Fear and anxiety shoot through me. What if I can't do this? After a few moments of trying, I open my eyes and fly up to Red's face.

"Please Red", I plead, "If you don't help me Lance will die. I don't know what we'll do without him. What I'd do without him, so please open up. Let me fly you one last time. Then I promise, I'll never fly you again." I pat her on the nose and close my eyes. I'm pushed upwards, as her jaw extends and a loud roar sounds from her mouth. Joy overwhelms me and I fly downwards, entering the red lion. As soon as I get to the cockpit, I rush to where Lance was still seated in the pilot's chair. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted off to the side. If he were awake, he'd be complaining how much he needed a face mask because his complexion was terrible. He was so pale, I was worried he might already be gone. I felt for a pulse on his wrist and to my relief, there was one. But it was faint. I reached my hand under his back and the other under his legs and picked him up out of the seat. His head rolled onto my arm, as I walked him over to the bench attached to the side of the wall. I gently set him down and walk back over to the pilot's chair, sitting in it. Turning my head to the side, I look at Lance for a few moments more before I put Red into commission. He looked so calm and angelic, completely different from the strained face I'd only seen on him since I've gotten back. Emotions I didn't understand were beginning to fill every crevice in my body, but before I let it take over me I turned away from him and placed my hands on the controls. The red lion responds and I click to open the video call. Relief replaces the emotion I had felt before as I see that Shiro was already online. It looked like he was successful in piloting the black lion.

"So what now", Hunk asked. Part of the team looked at me but I looked at Shiro.

"Shiro what do you think we should do? After all this might be your final order for us. What will it be?", I say. I don't say this to be mean or poke fun and he knows it. He gives me a sad smile and looks ahead.

"Let's go to the nearest habitable planet after we lose Sendak's forces", he responds, "Lance will need medical attention as soon as possible."

 **I got this chapter done faster than I thought I would so I was able to post it today, but the next chapter will most likely come out a day later than usual. Thank you for understanding and I hope you all enjoyed ( ^ ~ ^ )**


	5. Chapter 5- The Kindness of Others

**Thank you for being patient! As promised here is the next chapter. I wrote this pretty late at night so I hope there aren't too many grammatical errors I didn't catch. Enjoy ( ^ ~ ^ )**

Lance's POV

My eyes open slightly and I slowly turn my head to the side. I'm still in the red lion but not where I should be. Someone else is sitting in the pilot's chair and there's only one person who held the title of mullethead. I tried to get up but my body refused to listen. In fact, I couldn't even move my head anymore. My vision was beginning to blacken once again and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

The next time I gained consciousness, I was in quite the comfortable environment. The bed I was in, reminded me of my bed back on Earth and I found myself feeling quite nostalgic. I look down on my left and see a familiar head of white hair. Allura had her head on the bedside, using her arm as a pillow. It hurt to look at her for too long so I looked to the other side of me. But what I found was even more unexpected. Keith was on my other side, sitting similarly to Allura. I waved my hand in front of his face but he didn't even twitch. I heard a sigh escape my mouth. These two were a handful. I sat up but quickly regretted it. My vision started to blur and my entire body was wracked in pain. It felt as if I had run five marathons when I wasn't in shape. Everything was sore. The bed stirred and I looked to see who had woken up. As I'd expected, a head of dark hair moved upwards, revealing a pair of concerned eyes looking into mine. He sat up immediately and looked quite startled.

"Have a nice sleep?", I ask raising my eyebrows. But instead of glaring at me like he usually would've, he placed a hand on my back and the other on my shoulder. He gently pushed me back so I was lying down.

"It's only been half a day since you've been hit by that particle beam", Keith explained, taking his hand away from my back, "You should still rest." I place my hand on Keith's that still remained on my shoulder and patted it.

"I'll be fine mullethead", I respond, trying to get up again. He pushes his hand into my shoulder a bit harder trying to keep me down.

"Lance don't be ridiculous. Do you know how long you were out? We didn't know if you were going to wake up!", Keith's voice was filled with emotion but that made me want to prove even more that I was fine. I push his hand off my shoulder and place my feet on the floor. We both struggle, until my foot slips out from under me and we both fall onto the bed. I fell onto something hard and something falls on top of me. Keith's head was crushed into my chest and he immediately looks up at me. He looks at me with that same concerned look.

"Are you alright?" he asks. He props himself up, his hands on each side of me. I want to say yes but the words don't seem able to come out of my mouth. Keith's hair was covering most of his forehead and in front of his eyes. My instincts wanted me to brush his hair out of his face but I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't move.

"Well I don't know about you but I won't be alright if you two don't get off me", a familiar voice sounded from beneath me. Keith's face tinges with red and he practically jumps off of me. But my body doesn't move. I still stare at his face as his hand goes instinctively to the back of his neck. He twists his body to the side and averts my gaze. What was he thinking? But more importantly why wasn't I bothered over the fact that Keith had practically been lying on top of me just a few moments before?

"Lance I meant you as well", Allura says, her tone annoyed. I rolled off of her, my whole body wracked with pain once again. I turn and face her, seeing if we had hurt her in anyway. She stood up and cracked her back. She looks back at me, still stretching her neck.

"So are you doing better now?" she asked me. I force a smile at her and flex my arm at her, "Never felt better." I look over at Keith and he rolls his eyes. Why was he annoyed?

Keith's POV

Seeing Lance show off to Allura wasn't exactly my most favorite thing in the world. He would always put all of his pain to the side and say whatever he thought would make her happy. It just got on my nerves. Why was she so important to him that he'd sacrifice his own worries and pain just to make her happy? I looked at her but she seemed genuinely happy that Lance was okay. Even though we had just squished her.

"If that's the case then I'll go let the others know that you're awake", she told him. She quickly made her way around the bed and out the door. I turn back to Lance, a forced smile still plastered on his face. It hurt to look at.

"Why'd you lie to her?", I ask. I don't know why I ask questions I already know the answers to. Answers that'd hurt me to hear him admit. Maybe I just want him to prove me wrong.

"I don't want her to feel guilty about me taking the blow", he responds. Was that why he'd tried to lie to me earlier by saying he was fine? To make me not feel responsible?

"Which blow?" I ask. Confusion fills his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Which blow do you mean? After all I hear this is the third time you've done this kind of thing for her. Don't try to deny it. You actually died one of those times." Lance looks away from my gaze and places a hand on his head. Was his head hurting? Was I stressing him out? I uncross my arms and sit on the bed next to him gently.

"Sorry", I continue, "I just want you to know that your life isn't something that you can just easily throw away." A sad smile appears on his face and for some reason that hurts me more than his forced smiles.

"I'd gladly trade my life for you guys any day. No questions asked", he says, "Each and

every one of you mean more to me than even my own life and I know you feel exactly the same way. After all you tried to sacrifice yourself once too." My face softened, understanding where he was coming from.

"Don't follow my example", I respond, "I even got kicked out of school. I don't think I'd consider myself someone you should look up to." A laugh escapes Lance's mouth and my heart quickened.

"I've always looked up to you", his voice so soft, I thought I'd misheard. My whole body froze.

"Do you really mean that?" He opens his mouth to answer and I fully expected a 'got you' moment where he tells me he was lying and how I could possibly believe him, but before I could hear his response the door swung open. I looked over to see everyone piling through the door.

"Lance!" multiple people shout, upon entering the room. Hunk is the first one by Lance's side but soon enough everyone has made a spot surrounding the bed he lied in. Well except for Krolia who stood by my side. I looked at everyone's concerned faces and couldn't help but smile. At the end of all the teasing and insults, everyone loved Lance. Me included.

Lance's POV

Everyone looked at me with the same concerned expression and soon enough my eyes began to tear up a little. I could see how much they cared and worried for me, even Krolia looked troubled. One by one they all hugged me. Even Allura joined the hug train. She delicately placed her arms around me and patted my back. I felt awkward during the whole ordeal but couldn't help but feel a bit happy that she'd hugged me. Each hug hurt me quite a bit but that was only physically. The bliss I felt emotionally made it worth it. I looked past everyone at Keith and smiled.

"Don't be a stranger get over here", I say, extending my arm out and raising my eyebrows. I expected him to simply roll his eyes and scoff at me but he smiled, walking towards me. Each step he took made me feel more flustered. He leaned down and embraced me. His body was warm and soft. After what felt like forever, Keith pulled away but kept an arm around my back. I followed his eyes back to Krolia and understood what he was trying to do. We both extended our open arms towards her and smiled.

"I really don't need to be apart of this", she simply said, her arms crossed.

"Of course you do", I responded, before Keith, "Everyone here hugged me. It's a group hug of sorts and since you are apart of the group that means you have to hug me too."

"Is that so?", she laughed, walking towards us. She placed an arm around each of us and squeezed. A gasp escaped her mouth and she quickly pulls back. I find that her hand jumps to my forehead.

"You are running a fever", she exclaims, "You still need rest." Keith pulls away from me as well, but still remains sitting next to me. The place where he has his arm wrapped around me now felt cold.

"I told you, you weren't fine", Keith says.

"Lance you should still rest if you're not feeling fine", Hunk tells me. I nod at him and he looks relieved.

"Hope you get well really soon", Pidge comments, showing her rare non-sarcastic side.

"I'll rest and get well very fast", I respond, "I promise. So you two go fix some mechanical stuff I won't understand." They laugh and wave goodbye, exiting the room. I look over at Romelle and Coran who were to my left. Romelle still looked incredibly worried.

"Who are you looking at with that concerned expression", I asked her, "I know you're new here but I'm really the toughest guy here." Coran laughs so hard he slaps his knee.

"Oh Lance that's a good one", he says, wiping a tear from his eye, "But maybe this time I'll let you have it."

"Get out of here you Altean grump", I tell him. Coran still was laughing while he left and Romelle followed closely behind him. I look at the four who still remained. They each were squaring each other off. I swear they were each going to pull out a pistol any second now. Huh maybe I do watch too many movies.

"I'll watch over him", Keith says first. They each direct their gaze towards him.

"Nope", Shiro says, "Allura and you already had your turn. So both of you go and get your rest."

"But-", Keith continues but is cut off.

"No buts", Shiro continues, "Its not up for discussion. Especially how you were one of the two that watched over me not even a day ago." Keith looks down, disappointed.

"Lance we'll talk later", Allura tells me, earning her a glare from Keith. His face had something different from worry on it. Fear. Why was he scared of Allura talking to me? They both exited the room, Keith practically marching out the door. Shiro and Krolia both look at each other and sigh.

"I'll watch over Lance", Shiro says, "I've rested quite a bit."

"Not a chance", Krolia retorts, "I'm going to watch over this boy and nothing you say will convince me otherwise." Shiro looks at her with surprise written all over his face and he was wasn't the only one. I too was in disbelief at her words. Shiro reluctantly agreed, then turned and wished for me to get better. I nodded in response and he smiled, turning to leave the room. After he left, Krolia walked towards me.

"Why'd you want to take care of me?", I ask.

"You have the type of personality that makes a mother feel the need to protect", she answered, "I've heard a lot about you from Keith and have gotten to know you a little."

"Hah, if you've heard about me from Keith that means all you've heard is negative stuff", I smirk. She frowns at me remark and tilts her head to the side.

"Do you truly believe that?" she questions, "All of the things he said were actually all positive. The only flaw I heard about was the fact that you were quick to judge yourself for your mistakes but refuse to see the bad in others." I wasn't sure of how to respond. Keith talked about me to his mom and it wasn't even negative. But what had me the most amazed was how much he truly understood about me. Krolia took another step towards me.

"I'm sure everyone has been telling you just how important you are to them but I'm not quite sure it's through your thick skull", she reaches her hand out and ruffles my hair, "Don't die on us and I'm not saying let your teammates die either. But I'm telling you that instead of the mindset of 'I'll die in their place', it needs to be 'I need to find a way for all of us to survive.'" I look at her, astonished. It sounded so simple listening to someone say it out loud. Find a way for all of us to survive.

"Now only think that phrase before you sleep and eventually it'll sink into that brain of yours", she said, turning away from me and sat in a chair, pushed against the side of the wall. I lied down, my head on the pillow. I turned away from her and pulled my knees up to my chest. Everyone has shared so many kinds words and expressions with me that I couldn't help it. Warmth spread across my chest and tears began to form in my eyes. Before I began to bawl, I closed my eyes and tried to focus on anything besides all of the kindness I've received. Eventually it worked and unconsciousness overtook me once again.


	6. Chapter 6- Levanthieth

**I deeply apologize for the late chapter. I was getting my sleep schedule back in order and ended up spending too much of my time sleeping or out with friends before I leave for college in two days. Speaking of which my chapters will update a bit slower now. Probably a total of 2-4 days to complete and post. So not too long but not the daily updates I had been doing before. Thank you for you upcoming patience and I hope you enjoy!**

Lance's POV

When I woke up again, Krolia had disappeared and Shiro by my side, staring off into space. He looks awfully stressed and thoughtful which made me want to console him. I sat up and stretched my arms to the side, yawning. Shiro snapped out of his daze and smiled at me.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asked me.

"Surprisingly yes", I respond, "I feel a lot better." Shiro shoots me a suspecting look.

"What I'm serious!", I continue, putting my hands in front of me, "The only thing that feels off is that I still have a slight headache but that's it!" He looked relieved and stands up from the chair he pulled from the wall to my bedside.

"Well now that you're awake and well I have to tell you", he starts, "What you did back there was extremely reckless and-"

"Oh please don't give me another speech!" I cut him off, "I've already gotten an earful from Keith and Krolia." Shiro looked surprised that I had cut him off, but then smirked.

"Are you sure you don't want another scolding?", Shiro laughs, "I bet you I'd have the best one yet."

"I'm sure", I grin, then paused before asking, "So where are we anyway?"

"We're on the planet Levanthieth. We've been here for about two days now." That can't be. I didn't feel like I'd been sleeping for practically 48 hours. That's insane. Why didn't they just move me to the lions?

"This planet has creatures similar to the Arusians back on Arus and they were once held

in slavery by the Galra", Shiro explained further, "They practically forced us to remain here for a few days while you recovered. The Levants - that's what they're called - have even started to worship a couple of our members."

"Worship? What do you mean?" Shiro simply smirks and gestures towards the door. He offers a hand to help me up and I take up, pulling myself out of bed. I look down at what I'm wearing and to my surprise and relief, I'm still wearing my paladin uniform. Thank god no one had to undress me, I wouldn't exactly feel all that comfortable with someone doing that while I was sleeping.

Once we got outside, my eyes took a moment to adjust to the brightness. If I squinted, I could see identical, little huts made of wood and an unknown woven material, much like the one I just came out of. The huts formed a circle around the center of the town and in the center stood a relatively big stage. The stage was made of the same type of wood that was made to build their homes and stood higher than anything else in the town. It was probably used for meetings or maybe festivals that could be held. Any type of big public get together. However right now it was being used for something I couldn't even imagine. Two large chairs were on top of the stage. Each decorated with vines, branches full of flowers and berries and large leaves. It in truth was rather pretty but the occupants of the chairs didn't look like they were enjoying it. When I saw the pair, I immediately began laughing. I couldn't help it and Shiro too began to chuckle a bit. Keith and Krolia sat on their given thrones looking equally displeased and uncomfortable and to make matters even more hilarious they each had on a crown of woven flowers and grasses. Surrounding the stage were small creatures I assumed to be the Levants. Their skin was a soft blue and they had large leaf shaped ears that pointed straight up from their head. Once I was right next to them, I realized that they weren't as small as I'd thought, their height coming to about half of mine. Thick fur coated their bodies and they each diverted their attention towards me with their sparkling, dark blue eyes. While Shiro had controlled his laughter, I could not. Keith's own blue eyes found me and immediately his face flushed. I walk through the Levants and end up at the base of the stage.

"Man if only I had a camera", I sputter through my laughter.

"It's not that funny Lance", Keith remarks, trying to avoid my eye contact.

"Are you kidding this is priceless!" I respond, "How did this even happen?"

This time Krolia answers, "Apparently these little creatures now view the Galra as superior beings. The Galra's power was just too much for them to comprehend and they just wrote them off as Gods. Hence us being up here."

"And can I just add we've been forced to sit here from the time we wake up and until dusk so if you all could do something besides laugh that'd be great!", Keith exclaims. I laugh at his outburst and then turn towards the Levants. I crouch down onto my knee and place my arm across my leg.

"While the Galra are strong, that doesn't meant that you have to worship them", I rub one of them on the head while I speak, "You guys are free now. I'm a pilot of Voltron. The giant lion robot that beat the Galra. You don't have to follow anyone's rules anymore. So that means no more worshiping. Okay?" I stop rubbing the top of the head of one of them and see the reaction to what I said. They each looked at me with puppy dog eyes and begin cheering in a language I can't understand. One by one they begin to gather in a tighter crowd towards me. I feel their hands begin to push my legs in the direction of the stairs leading up to the stage. Fear begins to build up in my chest. I look to Shiro and he simply looks amused.

"Now you've done it Lance", he smirked, "I think these little guys now think of you as a God. A nicer God who has freed them from Galra reign. Nice going." I shoot him a glare and see the rest of the Voltron group begin to join Shiro in watching me being pushed up onto the stage.

Keith's POV

Lance sure knows how to get on karma's bad side. He know wore a panicked expression as a flower crown was placed on his head. Pidge and Hunk shouted things like "Yeah Lance" and "Lookin' good Lance" and of course Lance has to respond in his classic narcissistic ways, saying "When don't I look good?" Of course they weren't wrong. He did look adorable with the flower crown around his head. His bangs were pushed down onto his forehead and the white lilies that intertwined into his crown brought out his eyes. The Levants threw Lance onto the stage and many of the Levants climbed up as well, still pushing Lance towards the chairs. But once they got him in front of Krolia and I, they realized they had no where for him to sit. One by one confused expressions covered their faces and Lance began to calm himself a little. I turned to Krolia just in time to see a devilish smirk on her face and her extended arm pointing towards me. It took me a moment to figure out what she meant but once the Levants began pushing Lance towards me, panic began to set in me. Lance tried his best to stay standing up but eventually they overpowered him and he was thrown onto my lap.

"Not so funny now is it?" I snicker, trying to cover my own embarrassment and panic that Lance was now sitting on my lap. Lance turns his body sideways and looks at me, frowning. He then turned his head to face the rest of Team Voltron and I joined him. Hunk was waving, while covering his mouth with what I assume concealed laughter and Pidge stood beside him, holding up a camera.

"So now we have a camera?" Lance yells, sounding annoyed. The onlookers laugh, all except Allura, who stood a bit off to the side staring at the two of us with a look of confusion on her face. I hear a sigh escape Lance's mouth and he suddenly adjusts himself in the chair so his feet hang off the side of the chair. On the other side was his head, which was supported by his hands.

"Might as well make myself comfortable", he says, smiling once again. I can hear someone whistling in the crowd, which makes my already apparent blush deepen. I keep my hands in the air, unsure of where to place them.

"You know… You know there's enough space for us to sit side by side in the chair", I tell him. Lance closes his eyes and grins even further.

"I'm quite comfortable where I am." Oh what am I going to do with him. If he keeps up this kind of act up, I'll really have no choice but to hope. Hope that maybe we could work out one day. But before I could delve into that any further, Allura hopped up onto the stage.

"It's time for us to begin our journey to Earth", she announces, looking at me, "We should all prepare." I return her gaze and its not in negative feelings. More like a mutual understanding has now formed between us and almost immediately it hits me. She knows.

"You're right", Shiro agrees, "While this is extremely entertaining, we do need to get a move on. Who knows what the Galra could be doing. We can't let them reach Earth before us." The Levants parted as Shiro walked and he turned around addressing them all.

"Thank you so much for your help here. Without you guys we wouldn't have been able to get Lance the medical attention he needed right away. But now we need to get headed on our next mission", Shiro explained to them. They seemed to understand and each wore a melancholy expression. Lance sits up and slides off of my lap. He turns around and offers his hand out to me. I reach my hand out almost on instinct, but hesitate before grabbing it. He helps me up and I reach to grab the flower crown off of my head. However a hand covers my own and places the crown back where it was.

"Don't it looks quite good on you", Lance grins at me. I could almost feel the steam coming off from my head. But before I could respond and thank god I couldn't respond because I'm worried about what I might've spilled, Krolia said, "Lance should I just consider you to be another one of my sons? Maybe a special kind of son?" I nearly facepalmed at her statement.

"Special kind of son?" Lance responds. Oh thank god Lance didn't understand. For once I thanked his dull moment.

"You know a son-in-l-", she answered but I cut her off, "Mom don't you think it's time for us to go gather our stuff together?" I glare at her to show that I'm serious but she just chuckles.

"Oh Keith I'm just teasing", she smirks, "But I agree we should get a move on. Come on now you too Lance." She walks on ahead of the two of us. I turn to Lance and I could see that somewhere he did get what Krolia was implying. His face was bright red and he wouldn't bring his eyes to mine. But something about his embarrassed reaction made me extremely happy and I hope everyday something about me would make Lance this flustered.

 **I hope you enjoyed! Some Keith and Lance fluff is always something that makes my heart feel all warm so I hope you guys felt at least a little happy while reading!**


	7. Chapter 7- Feelings Collide

**Thank you guys so much for being so patient and supportive while I've been settling into college. The chapters will still take me longer to complete but don't worry I haven't forgotten about Going Home. I hope you guys will remain with me through the ride and I hope you enjoy!**

Keith's POV

While the other paladins had climbed into their lions, Shiro, Lance, Yorak and I remained outside of the red and black lions. Lance was fiddling his thumbs and looking down at his shoes. Shiro look confused by the whole ordeal and to be honest so was I. What did Lance have on his mind?

"I've given this some thought", Lance finally says, "And I think that if the red lion has chosen you again Keith then I'm willing to give up my position as a paladin." He stops playing with his hands and looks me directly in the eyes. It looks like he has his mind made up. But my confusion still remained.

"What makes you think the red lion has chosen me to be its paladin?" I asked him, crossing my arms. Lance begins to look uncomfortable again.

"While I was unconscious I woke up for a quick second in the red lion. You were piloting Red", Lance explains, "That means Red deemed you worthy to pilot her again."

"That was because you were dying!", I rebuke, "My bond with Red is now gone. That was my last ride with the red lion. You are the red lion's pilot and that won't ever change as long as I'm here. I told you. You're my right hand man. I need you on the team." His face softens and so does Shiro's. I was worried Shiro might take it the wrong way but it seems like he's quite happy for Lance. The last thing I'd want to do is hurt either one of them.

"My bond with the black lion is gone too. Besides it was hard enough piloting with one arm", Shiro adds, "It's time for Keith to be the leader of Voltron. Once we get back to Earth I'm thinking of retiring. There's someone back home that I really miss and need to see."

"Who?", Lance asks, tilting his head to the side. There's only one person I can think of that Shiro would be missing that much back on Earth. Another man who I consider to be a fatherly figure in my life.

"My ex-fiancé Adam", Shiro says, with a sad smile on his face. Just the mere mention of him brought pain to Shiro. They had gotten in a fight before Shiro left and hadn't had the chance to make up. I just hope Adam will give Shiro another chance.

"Ex?", Lance asks, "I thought you guys were still together. You two were a legendary couple at the Garrison. Everyone was jealous of the love you guys had together." My head swung towards Lance. I could tell he didn't understand the pain Shiro was going through just by talking about Adam but to be honest I think Shiro needs to talk about it in order to feel better. I was just always too nervous to bring it up.

"Well I want to go back to that", Shiro says, "But that's only if we figure out the argument we had and if he still feels the same way." He then sighs and mutters, "Relationships are hard." Before either of us could respond, Shiro walks off towards the green lion. I could tell he didn't want to be around either one of us right now. He wanted to avoid any other talk of Adam before he fell apart and I didn't blame him.

Lance's POV

I watched Shiro walk off and I couldn't help but feel that Shiro had way more pent up emotions then I had thought. If Adam didn't take him back he'd be the stupidest man alive. Shiro loves him so much it makes me wish I had something like that. I felt something soft nuzzle against my hand. My neck snaps down to what it was and its none other than the cuddly space wolf rubbing his head into me. I get down on one knee and begin rubbing his head, scratching behind his ears.

"Do you wanna ride with me this time?" I ask him. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch and see Keith's reaction. He crosses his arm and pouts, looking down at Yorak's reaction. Yorak licks the side of my face and wags his tail in response. A smirk appears on my face and I wait for Keith to blow up.

"You get along with animals so well I almost mistook you for one", Keith sneers. I couldn't help but smile. Pissing off Keith was one of my favorite hobbies.

"You were the one who trained him", I retorted.

"And yet he likes you while he doesn't really like the others", Keith responded. I couldn't help it now. He'd walked himself into it.

"That's because I have a lovable personality." I wiggle my eyebrows at him and he simply looks down and sighs.

"Classic", he mutters, turning and walking towards the black lion. I put my hands around my mouth forming a circle.

"You didn't deny it!" I shout after him. I laugh to myself and I swear Yorak was enjoying the whole situation as well. After seeing Keith stomp on into his lion, I made my way towards my own with Yorak trailing next to me. Once I reach the cockpit I turn on the video chat and see everyone else is already online. Keith still looks pissed, especially when he notices Yorak seated beside me.

"So what's the game plan?" Hunk asks.

"The path we took to this planet happened to be in the right direction of Earth", Pidge explains, "But we still have a solid 4-5 weeks until we reach Earth."

"That's more time than I thought it'd take", Coran says, making a face. My shoulders drop and my eyes fall. That's way more time than I thought.

"I can't wait to get home", the words just jumped from my thoughts to my mouth, "I want to see all of my siblings, my parents, the ocean…. Oh god I miss it all so much." My hand jumps to my mouth. Everyone else must be feeling the same so why do I have to say things that will make it worse.

"I miss my family too", Hunk and Pidge say in unison. They too look saddened. Shiro and Keith remain silent but look troubled.

"Well it won't be too much longer paladins!", Coran announces, "I'm sure we'll find a quicker route or wormhole or something. I for one am excited to see your guys' home planet."

"Yes I've heard so much about it but we have yet to see it", Allura adds. I smile at her, "It's the best planet I've ever seen. Even after visiting all of these planets."

"The space mall was pretty cool though", Hunk laughs, causing the rest of us to join in. While everyone tried their best to make light of the situation, I still felt a residual melancholy feeling in my chest. Something that wouldn't go away after a quick joke or two.

For roughly half a day we all spent time doing our own thing. One by one we started to turn off our video cameras, Pidge being the first to do so. Eventually Allura, Keith, Krolia, and I were left. Krolia was riding with Keith and sitting in the back looking at something in her hands. After squinting to try and figure out what it was, I found that she was staring at her Blade of Marmora knife. Keith sat in his chair, focused on piloting even though it wasn't that hard in the middle of nothingness and Allura looked troubled. But just as I was about to ask her if anything was wrong she intercepted me.

"Hey Keith do you mind turning off your video chat for a bit", Allura asked, "I wanna talk to Lance about something." Krolia's head in the background perked up and looked the video feed. My whole being felt uncomfortable and nervous. But it wasn't because I didn't know what she was going to say. Oh no I knew exactly what she was going to say. However what surprised me was Keith's reaction. A scowl covered his face and his eyebrows knit together. He looked upset but I couldn't figure out the reason behind it.

"It's fine Keith I actually wanted to talk to Allura about something as well", I told him, forcing a smile. He crossed his arms and looked even more pissed before violently clicking off.

"Overprotective fool", Allura muttered something under her breath but I couldn't quite catch it.

"What was that?", I asked. She waved her hand back and forth, "Oh nothing important." I tilted my head to the side still confused, but decided to get back to the whole reason why we were talking.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I tried to feign ignorance as much as I could. This was going to be a tough conversation.

Allura's POV

I sat in awkward silence for few moments trying to gather my thoughts together. The words that I wanted to say were getting all jumbled due to my nervousness. Whatever happened, I didn't want to hurt him but at the same time I knew it was inevitable.

"Whatever I tell you", I begin, "I don't want it to interfere with our friendship and comradery." My heart pounded as each word carefully left my lips. He nodded like he understood and held up his hand to stop me from continuing.

"I actually know what you're going to say", he admitted, sadness leaking into his expression, "Thank you for considering my feelings and putting it off for so long." I could feel my heart breaking for him but this needed to get done.

"I knew you never had any real feelings for me. I mean I hoped one day you would but in reality deep down I knew", he continued, "You ended up falling for a prince and I'm just a boy from Cuba. I never truly explained how much you mean to me and I don't expect you to understand if I never directly tell you. I'll need time to get over you, I mean that's obvious but that doesn't mean I want to cut off our friendship." With everything he said I became more and more upset. To the point the tears were welling up in my eyes. Lance finally looks at me becoming taken aback.

"Hey I should be the one crying here!", he says, scratching the back of his head.

"Will you be quiet for two damn seconds", I tell him, my voice cracking due to emotion, "Let me talk here." He sits back in his chair, wide eyed. A sigh of relief leaves my mouth.

"Quit making this sound like it's your fault", I start, "It doesn't matter who you are, it matters what type of person you are. And Lance you are a wonderful person but you aren't my wonderful person. To be honest Lotor wasn't the person for me either and having my heart crushed by him hasn't made me the most confident of people lately. I'm not in the position to get in a relationship right now. Not until I understand myself better and what I really want from others. You'd just be a rebound Lance and frankly you deserve better than that." At this point tears and freely streaming down both of our faces but neither of us are wiping them away.

"And I bet the person you're truly for is just around the corner", I pause for a moment and add, "Way closer than you would think." He tilts his head to the side and frowns.

"What do you mean?" he asks me. I shake my head at his question.

"Right now I'm merely speculating but I'm pretty certain I'm right", I explain, "But that's something you have to figure out on your own." He still looks confused but a part of me knew that he'd figure it out eventually. After all if you simply pay attention it becomes very obvious who truly likes Lance. Someone that would see him for who he was and still care for him. Through all his faults and all his great moments. And I'm sure that the day Lance finally realizes it I'll be smiling along with them.

Keith's POV

The second I click off I instantly regret it. There were either two things Allura wanted to tell Lance and neither were good. Option one. She was going to tell Lance that she wasn't interested in him and to give up on her. Not a terrible option but I still don't want Lance to get hurt. Or option two. She was going to tell him she liked him. While Allura might not have known it, she really does care about Lance. At least a little and if she has figured it out, she might have acted on it. Nothing terrifies me more than that because I know Lance won't reject her. I got up from my chair and began pacing back and forth. Krolia sat on the side observing me but I didn't care. The emotional turmoil churning within me became overwhelming. But why was I so upset about this? Why didn't I want Lance to be with Allura? The answer was right in the back of my mind but I was scared to even think about it. I didn't want to know the answer.

"You alright Keith?" Krolia asks me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I stop pacing and turn to look at her. She was wearing a concerned expression.

"Yeah I'm fine", I lied, "Just thinking about Earth." She frowned and crossed her arms. Immediately I knew she could tell I was lying.

"Uh huh", she said, "Look I get it. But I don't think you have to worry about Lance. In the end he will make the right decision for himself." But what was the right decision for Lance? Allura or me? My heart stopped. Allura… or me? The answer spilled into my mind. The one I was so desperate to keep locked up. I was in love with Lance.

Lance's POV

Oddly enough I felt much better than I thought I would've. I mean the person I cared about so much just told me they didn't feel the same way back. Maybe I've become numb? I get out of my chair and sit on the bench near Yorak. He was lying down on the ground, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I smiled at him and that's when I realized I had already stopped crying. The whole conversation just kept replaying in my mind but there were things I were still confused about. What did she mean that there's someone else close by? Did she mean one of the paladins? Or someone on a neighboring planet? How could she have known if either or those are true? I would've noticed if someone was interested in me right? I put my head in my hands and shake my head. I just didn't know what to think. But I did know one thing. I don't know if I cared about Allura as much as I thought I had. I mean I cared about her that's true but something else was eating at the back of my mind that I couldn't place my finger on. I decided to give up on it since I was getting nowhere. After all it's not like I was truly interested in anyone else. All the girls on the other planets were great but I just didn't feel the same connection with them as I did with Allura.

Yorak got up from his spot and made his way over to where I was sitting. He placed his head in my lap and whined. I gently stroke his head, looking down at him. This wolf was surprisingly good at being able to read people's feelings and intentions.

"I'm really not that upset", I tell him, "I'm just a bit confused with my feelings and some of the things she had said. Don't worry. I'm actually a bit happy because I'm finally able to either go forward with Allura or put her in the past. There are way better options for me out there and maybe I'll crush on someone who actually likes me back." Yorak tilts his head to the side looking confused. Maybe he didn't understand that much after all.

 **Hana~ Yorak is like 'You already have someone who likes you' ( ^ ~ ^ )**

 **Also Part 1 is almost over (there are three parts in total) but don't worry I won't take a break in between the parts so you won't have to wait weeks after Part 1 is over in order to continue reading. Thank you guys for the support and I hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8- A Time of Relief

**Hello! Thank you guys for all the reviews telling me to finally make some time to write again. I missed it terribly and I'm glad so many of you want me to finish this story. While this chapter is a little on the shorter side I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you guys for your support (^~^)**

Lance's POV

The next morning I woke up with a wicked headache. Stress probably built up from the night before and now it was relaying that I still had things to think about. But of course I ignored it. Instead I got out of bed, grabbed a glass of water and pet Yorak who remained by my side the whole night. I can see how Keith cared so much for him. My headache started to subside and I walked over to get ready for the day. But when I looked into the mirror I screamed. Yorak jumped up, waking from my screeching. My eyes were red and puffy and my face looked extremely dried out and tired. I covered my eyes with my hands, shaking my head back and forth in denial.

"My poor face", I muttered under my breath. I walk out of the cockpit and head over to the cabinet holding my possessions. Inside were my clothes, food, water, face and hair products and some miscellaneous items from home. I reached inside and grabbed a cloth and a face mask. I washed my face quickly and placed the face mask on. The second it touched my face, I immediately relaxed. Something about face masks were just so soothing.

After about 15 minutes I washed it off and placed a cold washcloth over my eyes. A couple minutes passed and I removed that as well. Looking in the mirror again, I was way less horrified at what I saw. My face was smooth and had a healthy shine. While my eyes were no longer swollen and discolored. Feeling confident, I walked back over to the pilot's chair and sat down, turning on video chat. To my surprise, everyone else was already on.

"Sleeping beauty has finally woken", Hunk jokes, rolling his eyes.

"I'm glad someone recognizes my beauty", I replied with a smile, causing everyone to roll their eyes and scoff at my comment. I laugh at their reactions and many of them give me a soft smile. This however leaves me a bit confused. What did I say? They're all giving me this look like I've just come back from the dead. Well I mean I kinda did but that was days ago.

Pidge's POV

I could feel my eyes rolling subconsciously at Lance's comment. He always has a way of bringing conversation back to himself and his good looks. Well at least he used to. Before Keith left. Lance had been making his comments less frequently and even seemed to dip down in his confidence level. It was extremely noticeable and I just didn't know how to handle that. Lance always used to joke around to get us all to lighten up so I tried to joke around but that ended up making fun of his feelings. Feelings Hunk and I didn't realize were so deep.

But to my surprise Lance laughed at all of our reactions. His laugh was hearty and authentic. One that I had deeply missed. A soft smile crept onto my face and I saw that the others around me all reacted that way too.

"Uhh something on my face?" Lance asks. His cheeks were reddening slightly and his hand jumped to the back of his neck.

"Nope", Hunk replies, "Just glad you're feeling better." I think we all agree to that.

"I mean I was only unconscious for two days", Lance explained, "It wasn't that big a deal."

"It's like you've been asleep for months", I spoke, "Ever since Keith left you've been super out of it." I didn't want to make it seem like it was his fault, so I kept my tone clear of any negative emotion. Lance looked down to the ground and frowned a little. Keith did something similar except his frown was much deeper.

"I've just been a little down recently", he responds, "But I'm feeling better now so no need to worry." If Lance had said that a few days earlier I wouldn't have believed him, but something in his face truly makes me feel like he is getting his feet back on the ground. My eyes loom over suspiciously to Keith.

"Well I'm glad you're feeling better", Shiro grins. Lance smiles at him warmly. I could physically see his shoulders relax and the creases on his face smooth out. But looking over at Keith it was like the opposite had occurred. His shoulders were hunched back and he furrowed his brows, looking thoughtful. And they weren't the happy, unicorns and rainbows kinda thoughts.

"Guys we have a problem", Coran's voice seems to boom, demanding everyone's attention.

"What is it?", Allura questions.

"We've received a distress signal from a planet not far from here", Coran explains, "If we stop there it could throw us off anywheres from a couple hours to a couple weeks depending on the situation." We all direct our gazes to Keith, who regained some of his posture.

"If there's a chance we can save the people there we have to take it. But if we get there and it's too much for us, we leave. No arguments. We can't throw our journey back more than a day or so", Keith decides. His voice didn't wavered as he spoke and once he finished he sat quietly waiting for our responses.

"Sounds like a plan", Lance answers. Keith smiles softly at him and Lance returns it.

"I'll send everyone the coordinates for the planet", Coran says, "We should arrive there in less than an hour."

Just like Coran had mentioned we arrived at the planet Plutenia in less than an hour. On the way there Allura had explained the planet's atmosphere and climate to us. Plutenia was primarily made up of water, something that greatly excited Lance.

"Man this planet is sounding more and more like some place I'd like to live", Lance said. He put his arms around his head and his feet up on the dashboard.

"Except many dangerous creatures inhabit the oceans there", Coran explained, "Sea serpents, sirens and giant water slugs." Coran brought his arms above his head and wiggled his fingers for dramatic effect. Not that it worked, he just looked silly.

"Sirens can't be that bad", Lance smirked, giving his famous womanizing look. This time it was Allura's turn to sass him, "Except they'd drown you given the chance."

"Not a bad way to die", Lance went on. Suddenly the loud sound of metal on metal boomed throughout my ears. Lance nearly fell out of his chair and I could see Yorak teleport out of the background of Lance's camera. I looked behind me to see if Yorak was in my compartment but sadly he wasn't.

"What was that for Keith", Lance says angrily. Keith crosses his arms and looks away from the camera, "I don't know what you're talking about." Another loud bang sounds and this time Keith was thrown to one side of his chair.

"Oh it's on", he glares. A symphony of metal hitting each other began to play and instead of looking at the two on the camera I found my eyes following the black and red lion diving through the air trying to ram each other. They flew very ruggedly, trying to avoid one another but failed to do so. I glanced down at the cameras again and saw Shiro skidding across the ground from one side to the other in the black lion. At first worry filled my chest for him but I quickly saw a smile on his face. Maybe it was like an amusement park ride for him.

"Man I wish they would just admit they like each other", Allura comments. I shoot my eyes towards her monitor. She knows? I figured out of everyone Allura would be the last to realize (besides Keith and Lance themselves) since Lance hits on her so often.

"I know right", Hunk answers. He was facepalming and looking rather tired.

"They're not even mad anymore", I tell them pointing at the monitors, "They're just having fun." And low and behold you could see the two of them smiling and laughing as they danced through the air trying to one up each other.

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter I will be continuing the story!**


	9. Chapter 9- Weather Forecast of Death

**Thank you guys for the support you still give me. I will be updating hopefully like the schedule I did before I took a break (so every week). I will upload this chapter a little sooner as I got it done sooner than expected and the last chapter was a little short. I hope you enjoy!**

Lance's POV

After Keith and I settled our dispute, we landed on Plutenia's biggest land mass, Pelagus in hopes of finding any signs of distress. This is where the signal was coming from but as far as we could tell there was no one to be seen. Pelagus wasn't a very big island even if it was Plutenia's largest land mass. You could see one side of the island to the other. An abandoned town sat in the middle of the island and small houses could be seen throughout the rest of the land. None of them looked lived in. In fact they were all rather worn down and falling apart.

"This doesn't feel right", Hunk says. Usually Hunk would be a big baby and we'd all dismiss him but for once I agree with him. A gut feeling in my stomach was telling me to get away as far as I could and my concern for the people on this planet heightened.

"We should at least take a look around", Allura tells them.

"There's no one here", Krolia argues, "We already have a mission. Get back to Earth. This is a waste of time."

"We are the universe's defenders. The people who will fight for those in need and can't do it themselves", Allura's eyes shone with resolve, "If we give up on those we swore to protect just because we're scared then we are no better than cowards."

"I agree", I add, "But this decision is Keith's to make." All of our eyes found themselves on our leader. He was looking down to the floor, his hand on his chin. It was obvious he was giving this a lot of thought. I smiled to myself as I began to grasp just how much Keith has changed since he was gone. He was no longer reckless when making decisions and took the advice of those around him very seriously. Keith was becoming an even better leader than I had thought he would be. I placed my trust in him long ago when the black lion chose him and it seems like it was the right decision.

"We'll give it an hour", Keith decides, "If we can't find anyone or figure out what happened to the people here in that amount of time then we'll leave." Everyone nodded at his choice and began piling out of the lions. We all gathered in the center of the lions in battle gear. All of us looking at Keith for further instruction.

"We should probably split into three groups", Keith pauses for a second glancing around at the team members, "Lance, Shiro, Pidge and Hunk in one group. Allura, Coran and Romelle in another and Krolia, Yorak and I will be in the last group." Not one of us made a complaint. The groups were split up pretty well.

"Remember we are only looking around for an hour", Keith adds, "The second things get too dangerous or you find anything that could explain what happened we meet back here. Got it?" Keith's eyes found mine and my eyes immediately shot away. My heart skipped a beat and I found myself growing increasingly confused.

"Got it", Pidge replied, "Let's go team!" She took off, followed by Hunk who didn't look like he wanted to get left behind. I glanced at Shiro and he shrugged, beginning to follow them as well. Feeling myself sigh, I jogged a little to catch up to my group. I glanced back once only to see the other two groups walking in different directions.

"Are we sure that we should be doing this?" Hunk questioned.

"Keith already made the decision Hunk", I answered, "We'll only be here for an hour. Worst case scenario we go back to the lions and leave." I punch him lightly in the shoulder and smiled at him. Hunk's seemed relaxed a little, seeming to take comfort in my words. But that relaxation only lasted a moment for all of us as a thick fog began to envelope the area. It swept in at an almost impossible speed, sending a chill up my spine.

"Uhhh guys", my voice squeaked, "What's going on?" I looked for my teammates but the fog was so thick that I couldn't make anyone out. Was everyone else experiencing this as well?

"I'm not picking anything up on my sensors", Pidge announces, "But that might be because the weather is blocking it. I can't contact the other groups." Just great.

"It's dangerous to continue going on like this", Shiro instructs, "I can't even see my own feet. Everyone turn around and head back."

"Don't have to tell me twice", Hunk says, his voice wavering. I turn 180 degrees and begin walking back. We had only been walking for a minute or so before the fog set in. This shouldn't be too hard to get out of. But just as I began to relax, an inhuman screech filled the air. It sounded far off but its eerie sound still rang in my ears.

"Guys we should probably keep talking so we don't get lost from each other", I tell them. I wait for their response but nothing ever came.

"Shiro?", I shouted, "Pidge? Hunk?" I stopped walking at this point and looked around me. The fog was as thick as ever and I couldn't tell whether or not they were still around me. Dread filled every pore in my body and the sinking feeling in my stomach wouldn't go away.

"Keith?", I yell. The only response I received was another shriek, but this time it was closer than I would've liked. Adrenaline shot through my veins and I took off running.

Romelle's POV

We had only been walking for a few minutes but I could already feel something was wrong. Something about the air was off and I couldn't agree with Hunk more than now. I don't understand how everyone here could constantly risk their lives all the time.

"It's our duty", Allura says. I jumped at her response. For a moment I pondered whether she could read my mind but then I realized I must've said my thoughts out loud.

"Even risking your life for others?", I continued, "I understand doing it once in awhile. But all the time? Who's going to watch your back?" Allura looked down at the ground and smiled.

"Think of it like this", Allura responds, "If someone was being harmed right in front of you. Would you do something to stop it? Could you handle knowing that you didn't do everything you could to save that person?"

"I guess I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

"It's like that. None of us here could forgive ourselves if we let someone die when we could've prevented it", she tells me, "And as for who would watch my back? Everyone here would. I trust all of you completely and would place my life in your hands anyday." My eyes found Allura's and I couldn't help but match her smile. Coran walked beside her, smiling to himself as well. You'd never guess the amount of truly good people in the world. But what truly amazing is how this group of amazing people came together. It must've been nothing short of a miracle.

"It looks like it's going to storm", Coran says. I lift my head towards the sky and see that he's right. The clear blue sky had suddenly become ominously dark. Raindrops began hitting my forehead and lightning began striking relatively close to the area. Thunder boomed in the sky and the light rain that had begun to come down began to pour from the clouds above. We immediately took off running in search of some shelter. I placed my hand above my eyes in order to block the rain and I pointed towards a small cave that was a few hundred feet away. Coran and Allura followed behind me but it became harder and harder to see where I was running. But eventually the cave once again came into sight and I quickly entered it. I turned around to see whether Coran and Allura had made it in as well and to my relief they had.

"This is utterly horrible", Allura whines.

"At least we have shelter now", I shrug. Coran grins a little while attempting to squeeze the water out of his clothing. A strike of lightning hit the ground very close to the cave entrance causing us to jump. But just as my heart began to settle from the scare, the entrance crumbled, trapping us inside.

Keith's POV

After saying goodbye to the other group, I lead my team off into the only other direction not taken. I turn to look back at Lance and see him hit Hunk lightly on the shoulder. My heart warms at the sight and a smile crept up on my face.

"You seem to be rather happy", Krolia says thoughtfully, "I figured being in a different group than Lance would've made you pretty unhappy." I turn my head to glare at her and she chuckles.

"I'm just happy he's happy", I say begrudgingly, looking down at the floor, "Although I am a little worried about his conversation with Allura."

"They haven't looked at each other since yesterday", Krolia points out, "I don't think you have to worry about them getting together."

"That's not it", I shake my head, "I'm worried he got his heart broken. I don't want him in love with Allura but I don't want him to fall apart."

"You know even though I wasn't apart of your life for a long time", Krolia starts, "I'm extremely proud of the man you grew up to be. Your dad did a great job raising you." She reached her arm towards me and ruffled my hair lovingly.

"Just give Lance some time."

"I'm not expecting anything with Lance. After all he might not even be interested in men. I'm just gonna continue on like normal."

"I won't tell you what to do Keith but if you give up on this, I think you'll come to regret it down the line. Trust me on that." Before I could answer, Yorak began to growl menacingly. I immediately reached for my bayard and Krolia grabbed her blade. We stood in the direction Yorak was facing, ready for anything. The wind picked up, blowing my bangs into my eyes. I quickly pushed them out of the way, trying to figure out what was going on. My feet began slightly sliding along the ground. I moved myself closer to the ground in order to gain more of a footing but to no avail.

"Grab my hand!", Krolia shouts to him. She had put away her blade and was trying to step closer to him. I reached out towards her as well but only our fingertips touched before we were torn apart, getting sent to the side.

"Yorak teleport Krolia back to the lions!", I instructed, putting away my bayard. Yorak teleported to Krolia and quickly disappeared, bringing Krolia with him. The wind drew underneath me and I was brought up into the air. A scream escaped my mouth as I tumbled in the air. I was only a few feet in the air but it was terrifying enough that the gust had enough power to lift me up. My feet fell back onto the ground awkwardly and I let myself fall to the floor. Yorak appears in my peripheral vision and soon enough I could feel my surroundings changing. The abandoned town and lions enter my sight and I sighed with relief.

"Are you alright?" Krolia asks me. I push myself up to my feet and brush off my pants.

"Yes I'm perfectly alright", I answer, "Is anyone else here?"

"No and I'm afraid that's not the only bad news", Krolia adds, "Look at the other two-thirds of the island." She motions to the other parts of Pelagus and I looked in horror at the other horrible weather conditions. A thick fog was in the direction Lance's group went and a heavy thunderstorm was taking over the area Allura's group headed.

"It's as if this place is trying to kill us", Krolia mutters.

 **What could be going on? This time you'll actually have to wait a whole week before finding out! Thank you guys for the support and I'll see you soon!**


	10. Chapter 10- Monsters

**Before I start the chapter I would like to start by apologizing. I promised the chapter would be here by Wednesday but I was unable to do so. Google Documents has decided to forever be an error on my screen so I wasn't able to access my chapter plan I had for this. I had to rewrite it from memory and then write the actual chapter so it took me longer than I thought. Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy!**

Keith's POV

"It's as if this place is trying to kill us", Krolia mutters.

"Whatever it is, isn't going to succeed", I tell her. Yorak was sitting calmly by my side, ready for directions.

"Mom", I start, "You and Yorak are going to need to find Romelle, Coran, and Allura. I'm going to go and get the others from the fog."

"I would suggest that we all go together", Krolia replies, "But I know you well enough that, that's not good enough. You want to find them fast and we can't do that if we're together."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Well I can't have my son-in-law dying so soon after getting my approval", Krolia smirks. I swing my head away from her, feeling my cheeks burn up.

"Stop with the bad jokes", I demand. She walks towards me and puts her hands on my cheeks.

"Just make sure you come back all safe and sound with everyone", she asks, her face hinting sadness and worry.

"Of course", I say, "Do you expect anything else?" I stepped away from her and ran towards the fog. Worry filled my chest as I thought of Lance, Shiro, Hunk or Pidge in any danger. They were my teammates and more importantly my friends. I was the one who decided we should participate in this mission and I was going to make sure everyone made it back. Just as I got to the edge of the fog, my body collided with a squishy figure that was considerably taller than myself. I bounced off and looked up, prepared for a fight. However, what I was met with was a rather frightened looking Hunk.

"What's going on?", the words seemed to slip from my mouth, "Where's everyone else?" I looked up at him, emotion spilling in my voice.

"I don't know", he responded, "All of a sudden the fog appeared and I could barely see my own feet let alone anyone around me. But then there was a monster screeching. Well I think it was a monster but my mind always jump to monsters. Anyways we all then agreed to meet back here so here I am." Out of the corner of my eye another figure appeared. Hunk and I turned to see who it was and a familiar white-haired man emerged roughly ten feet from where we stood.

"Keith", Shiro says, sounding surprised, "Is everyone else out yet?" As if to answer his question, Pidge slams into the back of Shiro, her glasses all fogged up.

"Ow", she says, taking off her glasses. She rubs them onto her shirt, enabling for her to see again. Relief filled my body as three of the four missing members stood before me. It was only a matter of time before Lance appeared from the fog too. Right? Shiro must've seen that I was still worried as he told me, "Wait a few minutes and I'm sure Lance will show up too." I nodded and all three of us stood there facing the fog. Every second that passed by seemed like a century.

"Patience yields focus", I found myself muttering. My feet wanted nothing more than to take off into the fog. Look for Lance and find him. Take him in my arms and never let him out of my sights ever again. But I knew that wasn't possible. Not for me. But when Lance's piercing scream sounded through my ears, it looks like my legs didn't give me a choice in the matter. I heard the others calling my name as I raced into the fog but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered right now was Lance.

"Lance!", I screamed his name over and over, trying to get him to respond. To let me know where he was. Soon enough I got my answer.

"Keith!", he yelled. My head swung in the direction his voice came in. I darted towards it, gaining speed with every step. I now knew what everyone meant by the fog being so thick. I couldn't see anything in front of me. So much so that I slammed right into the man I was trying so desperately to find.

Lance's POV

At first, I thought that the body that had crashed into me had been another one of those creatures looking to finish me off. One had already attacked me and left a pretty nasty bite mark but I had managed to run it through with my blade. But when I looked up, I found a very worried Keith. He was propped up on top of me, looking all over my body, as if looking for any wounds. His eyes widened as he was the bite mark ingrained into my left shoulder. Then his eyes found mine yet again. Keith's bangs fell over his face and all I could think about was how glad I was to see him. Although maybe we should stop falling all over each other.

"Is this going to be a reoccurring thing?" I ask him, raising my eyebrow. His frown deepens.

"Is this really the time to be joking around?", he responded, although not getting off me.

"I mean I thought I was being pretty serious."

"Are you alright?", he ignored me, "What happened to you? How'd you get hurt?"

"Some sort of monster got me pretty good in the shoulder. But I was able to kill it. Do you know if the others are okay?"

"Are you always going to get hurt?"

"Are you always going to worry this much if I do? Cause you shouldn't, I'm fine. Just bleeding a little." I could feel him sigh. His eyes still shone with worry and all I wanted to do was put my hand up to his face. Tell him I was alright and I wasn't going anywheres. But Keith rolled off of me, and lied down besides me.

"Seriously", I continue, "Were you really that worried?" I turn my face to look at his. It was far enough away that in the fog I could barely see him.

"I've never been more worried about someone else before", Keith said ever so softly. I opened my mouth to respond but I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. His hand slipped into mine and I found my cheeks quickly burning. I turned my head away from his but kept my hand in his. This was a completely new feeling for me. Keith's hand radiated heat and felt completely natural in my own. In fact I was starting like holding hands with him. And that thought confused me the most. I squeezed his hand back. Then as if to break the silence, the eerie growling filled the air. Panic replaced whatever emotion Keith was making me feel and I quickly stood up. Keith moved just as fast as me and let go of my hand to reach for his weapon. I grabbed my weapon as well and we stood back to back ready to face whatever came at us. My shoulder still stung in pain and I tried hard not to give any indication I was in pain to Keith.

Then, the creatures that had once attacked me, slowly approached us. They had surrounded us, as a wolf pack might. Their brown fur was matted down in clumps and other than their six legs and lack of ears, looked similar to any canine. I could feel Keith tense behind me and got into battle stance. But out of everyone I couldn't have asked for a better person to have my back.

Krolia's POV

Wind blew across my face as Yorak teleported me through the air. Eventually we landed around the area Coran, Allura and Romelle would've been and we stopped to take a look around. You'd think we'd have an easier time finding our teammates on such a small island but this storm, fog and high winds really made it difficult.

"Yorak", I said, "Keep teleporting around and see if you can find any hint of them." Yorak barks happily and teleports away. I turn and look around, seeing nothing but trees and a small rock hill that seemed to look like an old cave that had been destroyed. Worry began to fill me, as I realized that they were nowheres to be seen. Lightning hit the ground all around me, causing me to jump every time. But what really caused me to jump was an unfamiliar growling sound came from behind me. I immediately turned around and found a brown haired creature with razor sharp teeth standing before me. I reached for my knife and lowered my body to the ground.

"I did think this was a bad idea", I muttered under my breath, aware no one could hear me. More creatures appeared from behind the first, seeming to be hidden from the trees and tall grass.

"A really bad idea…."

Romelle's POV

Panic was the only emotion flowing through my veins and as much as I tried to control it, I couldn't. The cave had been closed off, with no way to get in or out. The others didn't know where we are and we had no way to escape.

"Maybe there's another entrance to the cave", Allura coined, "If we go through the tunnel maybe there will be a way to get out."

"It's the only plan we have", I replied, "Let's check it out." And while my voice sounded, uncharacteristically positive, all I could think about was being stuck in the cave until I died.

"Hey at least it's better than being out in the rain", Coran jokes. I almost laughed if not for the glowing gold eyes that met mine when we turned around. A low growl filled the cave and the terror that had begun to be suppressed had risen once again.

"On second thought, I might take that back", Coran says. I shoot him a glare but immediately turn my attention back onto out attackers.

What will we do?", I ask, "We don't have any weapons with us." Allura steps in front of Coran and I and turns back to smile at us. Her hands began to glow and I knew it was the Altean magic I heard she had possessed.

"I don't need a weapon to defend myself", Allura told me, "Just stay behind me." She turns back around and gets into a combat stance, ready to protect us. Admiration overtook fear as I couldn't help but think about the way she was always so kind, courageous and genuine. While Allura might always be preaching about her views, she truly followed them. Her actions always matched her words and it took great strength to be able to make such promises.

One of the creatures launched themselves into the air, trying to land directly on Allura. However, she slams her fist into the creature's side, sending it into the ground. Its body remained limp on ground and for a second, a burst of sympathy shot through my chest for the thing.

"Wait I think I know these creatures", Coran said. His voice lacked its usual energy and when I looked over at him, his face had grown pale.

"What are they?" I ask. But before I got my answer, Yorak teleported in front of Allura and barked. The next thing I knew, my eyes were being forced to adjust to sunlight I never thought I'd see again. I took a deep breath of fresh air and felt immediate gratitude for the teleporting wolf.

"Thank you so much Yorak", I told him, reaching down to pet him on his head.

"But where is everyone else?", Allura asked him. In response, Yorak turned his body and barked into the direction towards where we landed.

"We need to get off this island as soon as possible", Coran said, his tone devoid of any positive emotion, "There's no saving the people that once inhabited this island."

 **Keep in mind that until I am able to access my old google docs sheet, chapters might take me an extra day or two to get done. But I'll try my best to stay on schedule. I hope you enjoyed and have a good weekend! (^~^)**


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